"I plan to punish you by making you spend the rest of your life with me. Your vows will promise that you won't ever run away from me again. You'll promise to let me make you happy in ways only I can. Everyday you'll have to let me touch you, hold you, and love you while I remind you how fucking much you mean to me. And you'll listen, believe it, and trust me.
"You won't ever face anything alone, because I'll always be there. You'll be forced to smile daily while I make you scream my name, and you'll enjoy every second of being in my arms. We'll always promise to make time for each other no matter how busy we are, and you'll have to do things like take long baths with me, come on a few business trips so that I don't have to miss you, and you'll have to do terrible things like sleep in my arms all night. It'll be brutal."
He grins as I struggle to do things like breathe and stand. It's rather frustrating to let him continue spelling out his delicious punishment for me when all I want to do is get started.
"We'll argue, but we'll always get through it because we love each enough to make it through anything. You'll have to go out on dates with me even after your name is Sterling. And you'll also have to let me take you on vacations, even after we expand our family. My favorite part of growing up with the Sterlings was a family vacation. It's why I was always so close to my cousins."
My tears come out harder as the promise of my dream future keeps getting better, and I look up to see him smiling down at me.
"Yes. I'll marry you," I choke out, hiccupping again.
His throaty chuckle is one of amusement, and he thumbs away a few of my tears. "Of course you will. It's your punishment. You can't get out of your punishment, after all," he jokes, bending down to kiss me softly, but I break the restraint he has when I jump up to wrap my legs around his waist.
The kiss becomes hungry, and I forget about the exhausting day, or the fact that I'm standing here in a pair of hideous black shorts that touch my knees, a shirt that has three coffee stains, and the fact that my hair is in absolute shambles. I also ignore the fact that Dane looks sexy as hell while I look like a complete wreck. I'm back in his arms, and his ring is on my finger.
"I love y
ou, Rain. Don't leave me again," he murmurs against my lips, and my tears fall harder while my smile gets bigger.
"I'm not going anywhere," I promise.
Before I can even process what's going on, we're out on the balcony that I'm thankful is private, and he's dropping me to the oversized chaise lounge. My ugly shorts slide off as Dane works over me, keeping me under him as he kisses me.
My shirt peels off next, and my breath goes hoarse when he starts kissing his way down, paying attention to every bit of my body in his slow descent. My legs tremble when he reaches the apex of my thighs, and his breath teases me in all the most neglected places.
He places a sweet, gentle kiss on the inside of my thigh, and the waves crashing below drown out my sharp intake of air. He moves to the other side, showing it the same attention, and I start the medley of whimpers and gasps, becoming a repetitive machine as he works his way up. Then it all turns into strangled moans and girly cries. Bless him and his tongue.
When he finds the most sensitive spot on my body, his name comes out in a prayer-like whisper.
I can feel his grin against me, and I rock my hips, urging him on. Every flick of his tongue is more amazing than the last, and within minutes, I'm screaming loud enough to let everyone outside know what's going on as a powerful, stomach-clenching sensation rips through me, carrying me to a place I've missed.
I'm glad only the ocean can see me right now. The beach is fortunately not in view from this corner. And it's really dark, thankfully.
As he starts to come up my body, I stop him, pushing him into a standing position as I sit up on the chaise. He starts to speak when I jerk his pants open, and unveil the hard piece of his body that I have truly missed. The second I take him into my mouth, his body trembles against me, giving me power.
I twirl my tongue around his tip, tasting the small bud of wet excitement, and then I take him deeper, reveling in the way his hands go to my hair and his grip gets desperate. Each stroke makes his throaty growls more carnal, and each twist of my tongue has him pushing harder into my mouth.
But before the finale can happen, he has me picked up and pushed back on the chaise as his body covers mine. He's inside me with one hard thrust, and my eyes roll back in my head as our bases collide.
His breath of reverence resonates in my ear, letting me know how much he's missed me, and I swear I love him even more in this moment. He stays still inside me, making me squirm with need as his lips slowly claim mine, and I rock my hips against him, urging him to move.
Finally, he does, and a harsh grunt slides through my lips when he pushes in hard enough to jolt my body. I cling to him as I relinquish all control and get lost in his incredible rhythm.
The sweet mist of the ocean kisses us even though we're so far up here, giving our bodies a sheen of salty moisture as Dane reminds me just how good we are together. My nails slide against his back when he finds that spot deep within me that no other man has ever touched, and my toes curl almost painfully as my body prepares for the wave of ecstasy that is sure to follow soon.
It feels so good that it's almost painful when my body erupts, close to causing me to black out from the overwhelming sensations surging through my body. He tugs my hair back, muffling my scream as he devours my lips, his tongue sweeping around with familiarity as he drives me out of my mind. My body shakes with aftershocks that would leave earthquakes envious as the tingles spread from my scalp to the tips of my toes.
His thrusts quicken and his grip tightens just before he says my name in a whisper that's almost swallowed up by the sounds of the waves below. He stills inside me as I continue to tremble, still struggling to catch my breath and come down from a high like I've never had.
"I love you," he says breathlessly, laughing when I try to mumble it back, but fail miserably because words are too hard to form right now.
He kisses my cheek, my nose, and my forehead, making me giggle lightly, and he pulls me closer. And we just lie there for minutes or hours, I'm not sure. But it's peaceful, and I'm scared if I move too soon, the dream will end.
"I take it my punishment has started," I finally murmur, though I sound a little drunk.
"Yep. But I'm not done punishing you tonight. Want to try to make it to the bedroom this time?"
"You'll have to carry me. There's no way I can walk."